Resident Evil 2 (2019) Unpopular Opinion: Remake 2nd Run Isn't The Worst

[Murrdogg93]

People seem to savagely hate the 2nd Run in RE 2 Remake. While it does recycle things, I think it was more intentional design rather than cheap laziness.

Think back to the original RE 2. There wasn't an established Canon of how the events went. You could consider either scenario pair to be your Canon or just not care back then. Not until RE 6 confirmed Claire A/Leon B as Canon by confirming Sherry's implantation as fact.

Now with the Remake, it was made long after Claire A & Leon B were confirmed as the real events. So, I think they wanted to have those Canon events as the game's focus. Probably thinking the fans won't want to bother with the non Canon stuff that they know didn't happen.

So they decided to change the A & B scenarios differently in the Remake. Having a more chaotic start to the scenario. Having a different handgun that made the gameplay feel different. The M19 feels different than the Matilda. The Quick Draw Army feels different than the SLS 60 or the JMB HP3. Some items still getting rearranged, like the Jewel Box, or one of the hip pouches.

Also this new focus on the events does allow this version of A & B to be whichever Canon you want technically because either way, Leon still fights Super Tyrant whether you want him as the A or B character. Same goes for Claire & Sherry with their events.

I know no one will agree with me on this. But I figured I say my thoughts anyway.

 

[Turo602]

Nah, it's definitely cheap laziness. When I first played the game and did my 2nd Run, I thought people were crazy for saying it's the same thing. As you said, it had a more chaotic start and Mr. X was already roaming the station, you get different weapons, you meet Sherry, roam more of Raccoon City to get to the Orphanage, shortcut through the sewers, etc. Even with the repeated events and boss fights, it felt unique enough... until you learn the majority of those differences were simply because you were playing as Claire and not because you can switch characters through those distinct scenarios.

The whole 2nd Run aspect is just confusing considering only 2 things really change, being how you start the game and the final boss. If they were to truly focus on the canon events, they should have just stuck to 2 definitive scenarios and made them unique rather than overlapping events and boss encounters. At the very least, weapon selection should have been tied to the scenario and not the character. The difference just doesn't warrant another scenario option and in the end, just feels very tacked on.

 

[Murrdogg93]

Perhaps they did it because otherwise people would just complain that a B scenario mechanic wasn't an option at all? I mean they know they can't please everyone. It's why most companies give up on trying to.

 

[Turo602]

Perhaps they did it because otherwise people would just complain that a B scenario mechanic wasn't an option at all? I mean they know they can't please everyone. It's why most companies give up on trying to.

But, we kind of knew that going in... They said they were focusing on making both campaigns definitive experiences, and instead ended up leaving us surprised, confused, and let down on launch when suddenly there's a 2nd Run option they never mentioned, and the campaigns only have slight differences. This is why I refuse to give this game the high praise of "best remake ever" like I see everyone hailing it as, because it just seems like they cut too many corners, which is typical of Capcom these days. Yet, everyone blindly praises Capcom too because they're "back."

 

[Murrdogg93]

I don't praise anyone. Business is business. Companies don't care about pleasing everyone because no one will ever be unanimously happy. Players will always find something to criticize or blindly defend something worthy of criticism.

If I was in Capcom's shoes, I probably would've made the same call. Non Canon B scenarios serve no purpose at this point in the franchise. Just costs more money for no reason. If people want the B scenarios, they still sell the original RE 2 on the PS3 store. If they followed the same formula as the original RE 2, they'd just be criticized for rehashing the same thing.

 

[Turo602]

I don't praise anyone. Business is business. Companies don't care about pleasing everyone because no one will ever be unanimously happy. Players will always find something to criticize or blindly defend something worthy of criticism.

If I was in Capcom's shoes, I probably would've made the same call. Non Canon B scenarios serve no purpose at this point in the franchise. Just costs more money for no reason. If people want the B scenarios, they still sell the original RE 2 on the PS3 store. If they followed the same formula as the original RE 2, they'd just be criticized for rehashing the same thing.

First off, that's blatantly untrue and Capcom doesn't represent the entire gaming industry. They're just some of the worst offenders in terms of business over quality. Justifying poor decisions with people would complain about anything is no different than blindly praising Capcom as it shows a refusal to acknowledge issues with the game.

And you're also missing the point. I don't think anyone cares whether B scenarios returned. It wasn't even expected after they confirmed it wouldn't. The issue here is that they released 2 samey campaigns after saying they were focusing on making 2 unique campaigns. Not only would people be happier with 2 actual unique campaigns, it would have been a much better product.

The whole 2nd Run element is unnecessary and doesn't significantly change anything to even warrant the option being there. Whatever differences present in the 2nd Run, should have just been standard to either Claire or Leon to make their campaign unique to the other. Like I said, it felt like a very tacked on last minute solution, and it shows.

 

[Deleted member 21244]

I just replayed resident evil 2 original and than remake, and I must say that the remake story is really messed up...

The original is full of mistery and the two scenario are different from one another...
Also in the remake there is no actual connection between resident evil 1, while the original started whit an intro that explained the mansion incident and how umbrella was behind it, the remake started whit the truck driver, also the John and ada password that was connected whit ada and that John is in reality ada's boyfriend is omitted...
Also in the remake in doesn't feel like we are in the year 1998 since it's never mentioned directly...

The second run is also rushed and the story is poor, in the original, scenario b was pretty different, the 3rd act of scenario b had leon (Canon scenario) and ada togheter and they must enter the laboratory but they are attacked by birkin and the elevator stop, than leon had to take a different route to get to the lab and it's separated from ada, than leon is assaulted by Mr x and ada helped him and she is injured while Mr x fell into the lava..
In the remake this is all omitted and leon simply take the same route as claire...
Also ada truly care about leon in the original Infact she sacrifice her life to save him from mr x while in the remake ada look like a bitch who only seduce leon to take the semple, there is no actual conflict between ada and her order while in the original there were...
Also the agency who ada is working for is completely omitted...


There are many other element omitted like chife irons past, Chris story of what happened between mansion incident and re 2, the whole story of the raccon police department, the rpd police officers story inside the police department, birkin and Annette story (its still there but its pretty uselles and rushed), how the helicopter crashed in the station, how Mr x was released by umbrella, Mr x purpose (still there but rushed) birkin purpose (still there but rushed), leon saving sherry in the final act of scenario b, leon and Claire are more in touch In the original and each time they have a plan or solved a puzzle or opened a new door they reveal via the radio this to the other character, also the final battle in the train is different, leon Claire and sherry all do something to defeat birkin and escape the train, claire is trapped in the cabin and birkin almost reach to her while leon went on top of the train to stop the train and sherry went down the train to press the emergency button, this scene in the original had more tension while the remake doesn't have this...
also the ending is different, in the original leon say that he want to take down umbrella and Claire say the she still had to find Chris, and this will se up future game...
Instead in the remake we had leon, claire and sherry running happily in the streets while they are granted by a middle finger of a truck driver... Pretty stupid ending in my opinion

Gameplay and graphic are perfect in this game, but I cannot see how everyone are praising the poor and bad story, and the second run who is the exact same thing as the first... It almost fell like this remake take something out from the original instead of adding while the re 1 remake is perfect since it's the same story but whit added things